What line did I take down?

[Tucker943]

They drop lines for free here. They stiff you a lot of times on when they will arrive. We were working at a house that had not been moved into yet recently and the cable company hosed me twice. I took a pole clip and cut the line. Fug em.

 

[brendonv]

I've worked with others and waited all day to get the electrical dropped. By that time the tree was already down. I been on jobs where the electrician cut the wires on thouse side, and spliced them back when we were done. All without turning it off at the street. Screw that!

I bought the tools to open the phone boxes and take them down, cables easy too.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I can't believe they won't drop the line, and in a timely manner. Here, just call the day before and they'll be there in the morning, with bells on.

 

[Cobleskill]

I have done electric upgrade from a fuse box to a circuit breaker with a new meter channel. You have to have it inspected by Underwriters before the power co. will do the switch. We had the job all ready, just had to switch the wires from the old service entrance cable to the new. The inspector said uh uh, it has to be juiced to approve. I cut the tri-plex with bolt cutters, stripped it, and connected the wires with a split bolt. Inspector said OK. When the power co. came back to put the crimped on connectors I had the home owner tell him I wanted my split bolts back. Kinda fun actuallly. Like doing heavy duty tree jobs-full focus.

 

[sotc]

Rare occasion I need to drop a phone line I just do it myself. Nick, you can follow the line to the house and down the wall to the box it goes into, that box will have the name of the company that owns it. You really need to take an EHAP class if you don't know the different lines your working around. Glad that worked out well for you

 

[bstewert]

In my experience with drops, they are happy to come out and they show up early.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I imagine the smaller the town, the easier it is to get done.

 

[brendonv]

I called to get my lines near my house wrapped so I didn't get zapped painting.

They never showed, I called twice too. All their commercials say "Can't touch this, na na na, na, na Can't touch this"

 

[treesmith]

Alabama Power is fair, I'd say. No charge, but you have to call and book it, and they may or may not get there when they said they would. Before they switched the transformers out around here, I always kept the tools in my truck to drop services myself. Now the transformers they use don't have a switch on the side, so I can't just climb the pole and kill it. I'm not really interested in climbing all the way up and pulling a 7.2 KV fuse with my PVC "hot-stick".

In my area, AP's policy is that they will drop services on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. They reserve Mondays for catching trouble calls from the weekend, and I have no idea what they're reasoning is for not doing it on Fridays. Psyching up for the weekend, I guess.

 

[sotc]

Haha, if I need the service line dropped I schedule that, but coordinating them, telephone, and internet guys gets complicated so I do the comms myself unless the lines from the roof to the box are stapled in nice and run a long ways

 

[pantheraba]

Same here...we have had 2 or 3 power drops that went well. EMC shows up on time, does the deed, gets the wire out of the way. We drop the comm/data wires.

They have been easy to work with here. The HO has to make the calls to set it up, we cannot just get it done.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Really? The treeco owner does it, down here.

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Our power usually is bright and early, but says 8-10am, while the phone is 8-12 noon. The power company has to be called by 230p to get it hooked up same day, no charge. 2.5 hour potential window to work--a PITA.

Rarely do we need to have lines dropped, thankfully. Just how it works out. Trees are away from line, or the lines are buried.

Just have to be sure to clear the run from house to pole of all conflicting vegetation while the line(s)'s down.

 

[Al Smith]

The odds are not real great of any danger of being zapped on a residential service installed within the last 40 years .That tri plex is coss linked polyethelene coated and can take a lot of abuse before the insulation fails .

 

[Cobleskill]

As long as a tree rat doesn't get the taste for plastic.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I've seen them chew through that stuff, several times.

 

[treesmith]

I was trimming a water oak for a customer a few months ago and noticed his service drop had one hot wire chewed nearly in two. The power company came out and fixed it. I asked if his lights had been blinking and he said he'd noticed it a few times.

I've seen where squirrels have chewed through the aluminum wires holding chain link fencing to the posts many times. I can't imagine why a squirrel would want to chew aluminum in the first place. Must be a mineral deficiency?

 

[MasterBlaster]

They do that to keep those incisor teeth filed down. If they didn't do that, they would keep growing.

 

[treesmith]

I had thought of that, but it seems gnawing on a rock would be better for that, as well as more natural.

 

[Al Smith]

I don't know which is worse a red squirrel or a chipmonk .Those little SOB's like to chew the fuel line off of my old Ford F-250 that resides in the woods .Little rascals ate the air ride lines off of one my Linclon MK-7s' .

I fed em about a peck sack full of Decon and that ended all that nonsense at least at my shop .

 

[Cobleskill]

Have you ever tried the wax based chunks, Al? Tomcat is one brand. Lot of time they carry the pellets off and never eat them. With the big bars they have to chew em up.

 

[Al Smith]

I think theDecon at least slowed them down because I haven't seen any damage for quite a while .

I have an old camper at the edge of my woods I just use for storage .This year I left them a couple of hub caps with a nice drink of anti freeze in case they get thirsty .

Another trick is Blue streak fly powder mixed with Pepsi .That stuff will kill a raccoon or anything else that eats it .

 

[bstewert]

Same here...we have had 2 or 3 power drops that went well. EMC shows up on time, does the deed, gets the wire out of the way. We drop the comm/data wires.

They have been easy to work with here. The HO has to make the calls to set it up, we cannot just get it done.

Homeowner here, too.